[EL] Wisconsin John Doe ruling

Thu Jul 16 09:24:14 PDT 2015

How pathetically sad.

Bradley A. Smith

Josiah H. Blackmore II/Shirley M. Nault

   Professor of Law

Capital University Law School

303 E. Broad St.

Columbus, OH 43215

614.236.6317

http://law.capital.edu/faculty/bios/bsmith.aspx

________________________________
From: Tyler Creighton [tyler at rethinkmedia.org]
Sent: Thursday, July 16, 2015 10:44 AM
To: Smith, Brad
Cc: Steve Hoersting; law-election at UCI.edu
Subject: Re: [EL] Wisconsin John Doe ruling

“It comes as no surprise that a court elected with $10 million in support from the same dark money groups under investigation would overturn years of precedent and open the door to unlimited secret funds in Wisconsin elections, fully coordinated with candidates,” said Brendan Fischer, General Counsel of the Center for Media and Democracy.

http://www.prwatch.org/news/2015/07/12886/cmd-denounces-corrupt-john-doe-ruling-conflicted-court

Tyler Creighton | tyler at rethinkmedia.org<mailto:tyler at rethinkmedia.org>  |  Media Associate
ReThink Media<http://rethinkmedia.org> | (925) 548-2189 mobile
@ReThinkDemocrcy<https://twitter.com/rethinkdemocrcy> | @ReThink_Media<https://twitter.com/rethink_media> | @TylerCreighton<http://www.twitter.com/tylercreighton>

On Thu, Jul 16, 2015 at 10:28 AM, Smith, Brad <BSmith at law.capital.edu<mailto:BSmith at law.capital.edu>> wrote:
And just to be clear, the opinion is the interpretation of the law by the Supreme Court of Wisconsin, charged with protecting the rule of law and the rights of Wisconsin citizens.

If we're being snarky and all...

Bradley A. Smith

Josiah H. Blackmore II/Shirley M. Nault

   Professor of Law

Capital University Law School

303 E. Broad St.

Columbus, OH 43215

614.236.6317<tel:614.236.6317>

http://law.capital.edu/faculty/bios/bsmith.aspx

________________________________
From: law-election-bounces at department-lists.uci.edu<mailto:law-election-bounces at department-lists.uci.edu> [law-election-bounces at department-lists.uci.edu<mailto:law-election-bounces at department-lists.uci.edu>] on behalf of Tyler Creighton [tyler at rethinkmedia.org<mailto:tyler at rethinkmedia.org>]
Sent: Thursday, July 16, 2015 9:54 AM
To: Steve Hoersting
Cc: law-election at UCI.edu
Subject: Re: [EL] Wisconsin John Doe ruling

Just to be clear, this is the interpretation of the law by the general counsel of the Wisconsin state agency charged with enforcing the state's election laws.

Tyler Creighton | tyler at rethinkmedia.org<mailto:tyler at rethinkmedia.org>  |  Media Associate
ReThink Media<http://rethinkmedia.org> | (925) 548-2189<tel:%28925%29%20548-2189> mobile
@ReThinkDemocrcy<https://twitter.com/rethinkdemocrcy> | @ReThink_Media<https://twitter.com/rethink_media> | @TylerCreighton<http://www.twitter.com/tylercreighton>

On Thu, Jul 16, 2015 at 9:38 AM, Steve Hoersting <hoersting at gmail.com<mailto:hoersting at gmail.com>> wrote:

Tyler,

Don't you know you are not only wrong on the law of coordination,  you're on the wrong side of history?

By all means, do keep speaking.

It's your right do so...

And others need to understand: Some actually condone the acts in Wisconsin.

Cordially,

Steve Hoersting

On Jul 16, 2015 9:32 AM, "Tyler Creighton" <tyler at rethinkmedia.org<mailto:tyler at rethinkmedia.org>> wrote:
The state's top election official has warned the ruling could have dire consequences for state laws aimed at allowing the public to know who pays for election campaigns and how much can be donated by wealthy interests. Candidates in Wisconsin could have direct control over millions of dollars in corporate contributions and operate secret committees under a judge’s interpretation of campaign finance law that the state Supreme Court affirmed.

“Affirming the John Doe judge’s interpretation of Wisconsin law regarding coordination would result in candidate’s direct control over millions of dollars of undisclosed corporate and individual contributions without limitation on the amounts accepted,” Kevin Kennedy, the director and general counsel of the state’s Government Accountability Board said in the court affidavit. “A candidate could operate secret committees and direct them to run overwhelming and negative advertising, while the candidate remains above the fray and the public would not know the true source of the contributions and expenditures.”

http://host.madison.com/wsj/news/local/govt-and-politics/article_50f22c3b-27c9-5906-92e8-ded75ed50954.html#.Vaer_5MmWmU.twitter

CMD's Mary Bottari also has great background on this case here: http://www.prwatch.org/news/2015/07/12885/disappearance-john-doe

Tyler Creighton | tyler at rethinkmedia.org<mailto:tyler at rethinkmedia.org>  |  Media Associate
ReThink Media<http://rethinkmedia.org> | (925) 548-2189<tel:%28925%29%20548-2189> mobile
@ReThinkDemocrcy<https://twitter.com/rethinkdemocrcy> | @ReThink_Media<https://twitter.com/rethink_media> | @TylerCreighton<http://www.twitter.com/tylercreighton>

On Thu, Jul 16, 2015 at 9:28 AM, Steve Hoersting <hoersting at gmail.com<mailto:hoersting at gmail.com>> wrote:

Hear! Hear!

What can one add? Except to say these statements cannot be said often enough.

Thank you, Eric O'Keefe. Western Civilization owes you a debt of gratitude.

Steve

On Jul 16, 2015 9:23 AM, "David Keating" <dkeating at campaignfreedom.org<mailto:dkeating at campaignfreedom.org>> wrote:
¶133 Our lengthy discussion of these three cases can be distilled into a few simple, but important, points.  It is utterly clear that the special prosecutor has employed theories of law that do not exist in order to investigate citizens who were wholly innocent of any wrongdoing.   In other words, the special prosecutor was the instigator of a "perfect storm" of wrongs that was visited upon the innocent Unnamed Movants and those who dared to associate with them.  It is fortunate, indeed, for every other citizen of this great State who is interested in the protection of fundamental liberties that the special prosecutor chose as his targets innocent citizens who had both the will and the means to fight the unlimited resources of an unjust prosecution.  Further, these brave individuals played a crucial role in presenting this court with an opportunity to re-endorse its commitment to upholding the fundamental right of each and every citizen to engage in lawful political activity and to do so free from the fear of the tyrannical retribution of arbitrary or capricious governmental prosecution.  Let one point be clear: our conclusion today ends this unconstitutional John Doe investigation.

David
_________________________________________________
David Keating | President | Center for Competitive Politics
124 S. West Street, Suite 201 | Alexandria, VA 22314
703-894-6799<tel:703-894-6799> (direct) | 703-894-6800<tel:703-894-6800> | 703-894-6811<tel:703-894-6811> Fax
www.campaignfreedom.org<http://www.campaignfreedom.org>

From: law-election-bounces at department-lists.uci.edu<mailto:law-election-bounces at department-lists.uci.edu> [mailto:law-election-bounces at department-lists.uci.edu<mailto:law-election-bounces at department-lists.uci.edu>] On Behalf Of David Keating
Sent: Thursday, July 16, 2015 9:03 AM
To: law-election at UCI.edu
Subject: [EL] Wisconsin John Doe ruling

¶11  To be clear, this conclusion ends the John Doe investigation because the special prosecutor's legal theory is unsupported in either reason or law.  Consequently, the investigation is closed.  Consistent with our decision and the order entered by Reserve Judge Peterson, we order that the special prosecutor and the district attorneys involved in this investigation must cease all activities related to the investigation, return all property seized in the investigation from any individual or organization, and permanently destroy all copies of information and other materials obtained through the investigation.  All Unnamed Movants are relieved of any duty to cooperate further with the investigation.

http://wicourts.gov/sc/opinion/DisplayDocument.html?content=html&seqNo=144525

Our statement:
http://www.campaignfreedom.org/2015/07/16/ccp-reaction-to-john-doe-decision/

"The First Amendment rights of the John Doe victims were trampled on for far too long, and while this decision ends a sorry chapter, great damage was done," said Brad Smith, CCP Chairman. "For three years, American citizens were gagged, intimidated and forced to pay a heavy price for simply speaking out about government. Their speech was suppressed, their lives were disrupted, their reputations were damaged and bank accounts squeezed by legal bills in order to defend their rights in court. The Wisconsin Legislature and legislatures throughout the country should pass reforms to ensure this can never happen to anyone else. This investigation illustrates how campaign finance laws are used to harass political opponents and it shows the need for the Courts to uphold robust First Amendment rights and develop clear, bright line rules for Constitutionally protected political activity, to defend American citizens against such abuses."

David
_________________________________________________
David Keating | President | Center for Competitive Politics
124 S. West Street, Suite 201 | Alexandria, VA 22314
703-894-6799<tel:703-894-6799> (direct) | 703-894-6800<tel:703-894-6800> | 703-894-6811<tel:703-894-6811> Fax
www.campaignfreedom.org<http://www.campaignfreedom.org>

_______________________________________________
Law-election mailing list
Law-election at department-lists.uci.edu<mailto:Law-election at department-lists.uci.edu>
http://department-lists.uci.edu/mailman/listinfo/law-election

_______________________________________________
Law-election mailing list
Law-election at department-lists.uci.edu<mailto:Law-election at department-lists.uci.edu>
http://department-lists.uci.edu/mailman/listinfo/law-election

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://webshare.law.ucla.edu/Listservs/law-election/attachments/20150716/12c4a067/attachment.html>